Will of Pte George Dutch, 1914, 4/5 Black Watch: Can anyone please decipher the date?

[rolt968]

Can anyone make anything of the date of George Dutch's soldier's will? (I can see a 2 in the middle and a 6 at the end but nothing else.)

Thank you.

 

(When the Soldiers' Wills first became available I can remember listening to someone from the archives describing the poor state some of the wills were in and the reasons why. I seem to be working on anumber of wills in poor condition just now.)

RM

 

[rolt968]

If it is any help: He was killed in action on 10 October 1916 and the date must be on or after 12 January 1916 when he married.

RM

[charlie962]

Could it read something like April 2nd 1916 ?

 

When did he go overseas?  Will could be a few days before.

 

charlie

[rolt968]

1 hour ago, charlie962 said:

Could it read something like April 2nd 1916 ?

 

When did he go overseas?  Will could be a few days before.

 

charlie

Thank you.

Unfortunately from our point of view he went to France on1 November 1914 (with 1/7 Gordon Highlanders). He must have been on leave when he married in 1916. (He left all his property to his wife.)

April 2nd 1916 would work - but that shouldn't be immediately after he got back from leave - unless it was a very long leave.

RM

[Skipman]

That's a difficult one, first letter could be "O"  Could it be October 1916,  if he knew he was going into action soon?

Mike

 

[charlie962]

16 hours ago, Skipman said:

Could it be October 1916,

Slightly clearer image. yes, I agree a better fit.

Charlie

[rolt968]

It could just be October. Perhaps he was issued with a new pay book? It would raise the issue (to which I have found no anwser so far) - when would men stop referring to themselves as serving in 1/5 rather than 4/5 Black Watch. Since George Dutch was an original 1/5 I imagine that in his case it would be quite late.

 

I have looked at the rest of the writing in the will. There are no useful capitals to compare.

 

 

I wonder if we should see some trace of the sprawly "y" if it was February?

RM